Eyes to the Soul
by Eriolchan
Summary: Draco's hurt after a summer with his father. Will Kitreen, the girl he hurt a year ago, be able to help him open up and become better? Summary lacks as does the title. A Draco/OC pairing, OOC, AU. My second story.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any part of Harry Potter. I wish I did, but I don't.

Alone in a compartment on a scarlet train, a sixteen-year-old boy could be found examining a cut on his cheek in a small, round mirror. His white-blonde hair kept falling in his pale gray eyes. The cut, despite the length of his hair, was very visible, especially with the large, purple bruise that surrounded it. This would bring about a lot of unwanted attention, something Malfoys weren't supposed to attract.

"Damn Lucius, why did you do this?"

Of all the summers of torture, he had chosen this one, the one before Draco's last year of school, to leave a mark. He couldn't hide this any longer. Soon he would be summoned by one or more of his followers. In fact, he could hear Pansy now, shrieking his name down the corridor. He opened the door to his compartment and started off in the general direction of the noise. Before he got too far, he felt himself falling to the floor.

A girl was on hands and knees looking for something. She had very short blue hair.

"Oh . . . oww. I'm so very sorry." she said after looking up. She had on odd squint to her eye, which had to mean . . .

"I've been looking for my contact lens." she said as she plucked something invisible and put it in a small container.

"I'm still a little new with these things."

She laughed as she picked the lens out of the solution and placed it in her eye. Smiling, she looked down at whom she had tripped.

"Oh gosh!" Fear flashed into her light blue eyes, eyes that could be as warm as the summer sun, calm as the sea, or cold as ice. The fear lasted only a nanosecond and was soon replaced by a calm stare, though the smile remained.

"Need a hand?" she asked.

Draco looked at her extended hand a minute before taking it. With one hand, she lifted him up.

"You're strong," he commented with a surprised tone.

"You have to be, if you're a waitress."

She turned her head to the floor. Feeling her embarrassment, he searched for another subject.

"Your nails are green. You're not in Slytherin are you? I've never seen you before."

A sudden look of disgust alighted on her face.

"You don't remember me, do you? Unbelievable!" She looked hard at him.

"Well, my hair was brown, and much longer. I also wore glasses and braces, which I am glad to be rid of. But you don't even recognize me? I didn't think you would ever forget me. The last time I saw you, I was laying at the bottom of the stairs."

It suddenly came to him: a scared-looking sixth year with dark brown hair in braids that reached past the small of her back. When she talked, you could see the braces across her teeth and large frames covered her ice-blue eyes.

_It was at the end of sixth year and the Slytherins had claimed the grand staircase in an effort to blow off steam. It was a celebration between their O. W. L. S. and their N. E. W. Ts. After shouting and jeering at all mud-bloods, mud-blood lovers, and half breeds, no one had expected what had come next._

_You couldn't see her face at first, she was deeply involved in her book._

"_Oh look," yelled Malfoy, "fresh meat. Mud-blood, do you know where you are?"_

_The girl looked up from her book._

"_Yes, why?"_

"_Well you seem to be fond of reading, tell me, what does that sign say?"_

_In bright green letters shone these words: "Slytherin hallway. Others punished here."_

"_You can't be serious. You've taken over the hallway? Well, whatever. I have to get to class so let me through."_

"_First, you have to get through me. " he smiled slyly._

"_Very well," she sighed._

_In one swift movement she placed her book and book bag on the floor and took a martial arts fighting stance. She smiled at the surprised faces around her. She edged closer to Malfoy as though she were a cat stalking her prey. She stopped about a centimeter in front of him._

"_I'm not going to fight you." she said after a while, putting her hands down._

"_Wise decision. But you have already angered me." _

_As he was talking, he was moving in a way as to make her back up towards the stairs._

"_So now, you must go."_

_With that, he pushed her. Time seemed to slow and for a split second she teetered on the top stair. Their eyes locked and for the first time, fear crossed her eyes. He felt a sudden urge to catch her hand, to stop her from falling. But he checked himself and she fell the length of two stories to the ground. Such pain she had never felt. She lifted her head to look up the stairs, leaning on the arm that hurt less. She saw his face, as clear as if she was there, before she blacked out. It was probably a hallucination, but she thought she saw regret._

Author's Note: This is my second story and I wrote it years ago. It's kind of sappy and my work has a habit of going too fast. Please review and tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Finished editing chapter 2. Hope you like it.

Chapter 2

"Oh my god. That was you?" he gasped, feeling sick to his stomach. He couldn't stand her eyes anymore. They weren't accusing, just a bit of mocking laugher played in them. He turned his face from her and heard her gasp.

"Did I do this to you when I tripped you?" she asked, concerned.

"What?"

He felt his face and remembered the damn cut.

"No, this happened a while ago."

"Let me fix that," she said stepping closer.

"It's nothing," he replied, backing into his compartment.

"It will only take a second," she persisted.

She stepped into the compartment and shut the door. She extracted a small vial from her pocket and took his face in her hands.

"This might sting a bit," she said, "so I'm going to blow on while I apply this liquid. I find that it helps."

With that, she tilted his head and blew as she applied a cool, clear liquid. The scent of her breath reached his nose. It smelled of vanilla or honey, he couldn't tell which exactly. As she took out her wand and muttered something to make the bruise go away, he couldn't help but wonder why someone he had hurt was helping him.

"There. You're back to your same, perfect-faced self. Here," she held up a small mirror. There was no sign of that his father had harmed his face. He held his hand up to see if it hurt, another 

big mistake. Doing this caused his sleeve to pass above his wrist which exposed another bruise. Before he could pull it away, she grabbed his hand.

"Where exactly did you get these?" she cried.

"Does it really matter?" Did she have to know what happened to him over the summers?

"Is someone hurting you?" she asked while fixing his arm. "A family member maybe?"

"Why would anyone hurt me, especially someone in my family?"

"It's called abuse, Malfoy. You need to talk to someone."

"I don't need to talk to anyone about anything," he spat.

She looked at him sadly. "Would you tell me if someone was hurting you?"

"Why would you care? I would deserve it wouldn't I? For all the horrible things I've done to you and others?"

"No one deserves this," she shook her head softly. A small smile came to her lips. "My name is Kitreen. I have to go now. Nice seeing you, and I hope to see you around."

With that, she left the compartment, cheering herself at her first meeting since the incident and thinking that maybe he had changed somehow. Draco, meanwhile, was left alone to wonder at the unexpectedness of that girl, Kitreen.

--

Soon they had arrived at school and were separated into their house tables, Gryfindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Draco soon saw the unmistakable head of Kitreen. She took a seat at the Hufflepuff table. He also saw that she sat a little to herself. As he was watching her, Pansy came up and hugged him.

"Didn't you hear me calling you on the train, Draco? Did you have a good summer?"

He turned to talk to her just as Kitreen turned to look at him. What she saw repulsed her.

'Figures,' she thought, 'Like he would ever change.'

Right before dinner ended, she found a note on her plate.

"Meet me in the hidden corridor before you leave for bed," it read.

This would put a damper on things. She was going to go to the library to pick up the last few books she had yet to read. On the first day of school all those years ago, she had vowed to read every book in the library. The teachers have been really nice, giving her passes to the Restricted Section. She can always get them later. She gave a small nod and put the paper in her bag. After dinner, she hung back after hearing the password and walked quickly to the hidden corridor.

Almost everyone knew about the hidden corridor, but no one ever let slip to a teacher that it was so well known. She found no one in there and decided to wait for five minutes. While she waited, she looked around. It had a bench, two chairs and a fireplace. At the end was a door that was always locked.

"I'm glad you came," said a male voice.

She turned quickly to see Malfoy waiting at the entrance.

"I should have known it was you," she said.

He walked in and sat in one of the chairs.

"It's my father," he threw out.

"Beg pardon?" replied Kitreen, lowering herself into the other chair.

"My father. He's the one that gave me the bruises."

She felt her heart soften for a moment, then remembered who she was talking to.

"Yes, well, it will usually be the fathers," she replied coldly.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Why are your nails green if you're in Hufflepuff?" he asked after searching for questions.

"I just like the color," she said.

"Why did you say that you have to have strong arms to be a waitress?" He wouldn't give up.

"Because you do. The trays are heavy."

"Why are you a waitress?"

"Because books and rent don't pay for themselves. I've been working for years now."

"But why?" Despite himself, he really wanted to know.

"Because I need to support myself."

"Your parents kicked you out already?" he asked snidely.

"My parents? My mother's been dead for years and child services took me away from my father during my second year. I've been living in an orphanage for the last four years."

"Why did they take you from your father?"

She was suddenly much colder.

"If that's all," she said getting up, "then I'd better go." Ice covered each word.

"What's with you?" he asked. "You were so friendly on the train. What happened?"

"I just remembered that tigers don't change their stripes," she hissed. After a moment she calmed herself and said, "Look, I'm really sorry about your dad. But I really have to go. Hope everything works out."

Just as she was about to leave, she heard a sniff. She turned to see to Draco's head in his hands. She could hear the sounds of a boy trying not to cry.

The last thing he wanted to do in front of her was cry. Malfoys didn't cry. But something about almost being able to talk to someone and having them deny you was shattering.

"Oh," she walked over to him and kneeled by his knees.

"Why? Why do they do it?" he cried softly.

"I don't know. I don't think anyone does." She cried along with him. "But you just have to know that things will get better."

"How do you know?" he asked weakly.

"They just have to." She was talking more to herself. "They just have to get better."

He looked up at her, both with tears in their eyes. Like a magnet, their heads bent closer together, and before either of them knew what was happening, he had her head in his hands and they were kissing. Only one thought came to their minds: how good the other's kiss tasted.

Kitreen suddenly realized what was happening. She pulled away quickly and jumped up.

"I really have to go." She said rushed out, leaving him all alone again.

Author's Note: My second chapter. It's a bit longer than the last one. I couldn't find a decent place to cut off without making one too short. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, even if it's bad (but no flames please).


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N: Don't own Harry Potter, never will.**

**Chapter 3**

'How could this have happened?' she thought frantically. 'This is Malfoy. Draco Malfoy! He pushed you down the stairs.' But when she thought of him, all she could think about was how good it felt when he held her head … no! He couldn't like her like that. He came from one of England 's most prominent wizard families and she was, well… a muggle born, a mud-blood. It was just an impulse, she told herself. But she couldn't help dreaming of a blond boy that night.

That night Draco was confused as well. First she had been nice to him, then she became cold, then she had sympathized with him, then they had kissed. After that, she ran away. This was all too weird. And why had he kissed her? He had thrown down the stairs barely half a year ago. He was a Malfoy for god sakes. He wasn't even supposed to think about mud-bloods. Still, he couldn't get her blue haired image out of his head and he fell asleep to her blue eyes watching him, filled with love.

When Draco sat down to breakfast the next morning he immediately looked for Kitreen. She was noticeably absent but his attention was taken by an owl sitting on his plate.

"What do you want?" he asked it.

It gave him a snappish look as it pushed a letter at him. Even the owls disliked him, he thought as the owl flew away. He opened the letter as Pansy took her seat next to him.

'Meet me' was all it said.

Somehow he knew it was from Kitreen. He got up and headed out to the corridor, ignoring Pansy's cries of "Draco, come back!"

Kitreen stood inside, looking at a painting.

"Good morning," he said, happily surprised. And surprised he was happy.

"Yes, well, we have to talk about last night." She kept looking at her hands and shrugging. "Look, I'm really sorry."

"What do you mean?" he asked a little indignant.

"I mean, I'm sorry I kissed you. I can't possibly to know how you felt being kissed by someone like me. I hope maybe you can forgive me. I'll see you around. Good bye, Malfoy."

She said it all in such a rush that Draco couldn't get a word in edgewise. She left right after her little speech and so he couldn't respond. But how would he have responded? That he possibly liked being kissed by her? She thought he was shallow and for some reason that upset him. Did kissing someone who was muggle born make him any less of a person. It made him less of a Malfoy, but he didn't care much about that anymore. After years of perfecting his image in the traditional Malfoy style, he found that he was only surrounded by fake people who liked him for his power. When he stopped to think about it, he really liked her. She didn't suck up to him because of his money or power. She didn't even seem afraid of him. But Malfoys weren't supposed to like girls like her. They weren't even supposed to be friends. Those were the rules of his circle.

'No,' he thought, 'it's my father's circle. I don't want to be part of it anymore.'

But it didn't matter. She could never like him like that.

After running out and away onto the grounds outside, Kitreen fell against a wall. How stupid. This had to be done. She would just have to get along with her life. A Malfoy would never love a girl like her and she just had to get used to that.

The next day, Draco looked out for Kitreen. They had several classes together. All Draco could do was watch her throughout Potions. During that time Kitreen kept her eyes on her notes. But notes were only so interesting and she found her eyes wondering over to Draco.

"Miss Demvore. This is an appalling grade."

Her eyes snapped suddenly to Snape who was standing right next to her.

"But this an E paper. You wrote it yourself."

"I expect nothing but Os from you," he said. "You're better than this and you know it. I think that something may be distracting you from your studies this term."

He cast a sideways glance towards Draco and she blushed.

"Ridiculous," she said. "I don't have any friends, you know that."

"If you say, but it remains that I will have to give you detention. You shall be cleaning the Great Hall after dinner. Without magic."

Hours later Kitreen was halfway done with the giant floor. It was taking her longer than she anticipated to finish. She had really wanted to finish quickly so that she could continue reading her book. It was a really interesting one on the history of defensive spells and their creators. She wondered why Snape had her doing menial work when the time could have been better spent doing an extra essay. She also wondered, as she frequently did, why Snape took such an interest in her. Everyone knew she was muggle born and that Snape was a very decorated, though admittedly ex, Death Eater. He had taken an interest in her since her first year and had helped her through the most challenging parts of her school life. She had been so proud when she had 

achieved the O O.W.L that was required for his N.E.W.T. classes. She wanted more than anything to be a healer.

She dumped the last bit of water over the last bit of floor and scrubbed. She thought of Snape and his kindness towards her. Maybe, if a former Death Eater could see past her bloodline, than just maybe . . .

She wiped her brow and picked up the bucket and towel. She left through the door on the other end of the Hall, not noticing the shadow waiting outside the tall double doors at the front.

**A.N: **Thanks for reading! It took a while to get this one up, I was supper busy with work and such.

Sesshy Pup: Thanks for the feedback. There will be a chapter about Draco's relationship with his dad. I'm not sure when though.

As always, please tell me what you think. Until next time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, my name would be J.K. Rowling.

Kitreen had gone as far as the passage to the tunnels to the kitchen when she realized someone was following her. She started feeling nervous, but couldn't really think why. It was probably just Mrs. Norris or Filtch or one of the school ghosts. She didn't turn around because a part of her was afraid to find out if it was just a ghost or someone who wanted trouble. She could really not afford another detention. She had just made up her mind that it was nothing to worry about because Filtch would have caught her by now when a hand touched her shoulder and a voice said "Wait up!"

She let out a scream that she instantly up by placing her hands over her mouth. She had recognized the voice, but was startled none-the-less.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her heart beating so fast she thought she might have heart failure.

"I was going to ask you that." Draco replied. "I saw you leave from the Great Hall and I wanted to talk to you."

"Why didn't you talk to me earlier? It took me almost five minutes to get here? You scared me half to death."

"Why did you scream?"

"I thought you were someone out to get me. I was really nervous before you said anything and I had no idea you were so close."

She started walking again and he followed. She was confused as to why he was there at all. She had been thinking about him while she was working, but she didn't expect to see him until their next class.

"So," Draco said, searching for a topic, "Snape had you cleaning floors?"

"Yeah. I thought he would give me more homework or an essay or something."

"That makes more sense. But how are you going to get tonight's homework done? It's past midnight."

She looked at him surprised.

"You already have it done," he answered.

"I finished it before dinner. I really hope it's O material. I can't afford another detention."

They reached the portrait hiding the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. She stopped and waited, wondering what more he wanted with her. They stood in silence for a few minutes before she broke the silence.

"It's late," she yawned. "I think I'm going to bed."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you tomorrow? In class?"

"Ah, yeah," she stammered. She was no less confused than earlier when she had been thinking about him. Why was he talking to her right now, in the middle of the night? He had obviously been waiting for her until she had finished her detention. Why?

"So, I'll see you tomorrow," she said, passing through the portrait.

"Goodnight, Kitreen."

She paused, about to shut the door.

"Goodnight, Draco."

* * *

Kitreen often saw Draco in class, but she refrained from speaking to him as much as possible. Draco, on the other hand, tried his hardest to say something to her every time he saw her. He couldn't help but feel pleased whenever she responded, which was becoming more and more often. As long as he stayed away from the more personal topics she would at least answer the question or make a comment. As time progressed she would expand her sentences until what they shared resembled close to a conversation. Around this time it was starting to snow and the headmaster announced that he was throwing a Winter Dance. He was scheduling it for the day before everyone would leave for holiday so that no one would feel obligated to stay away from their families. Immediately people started pairing off, determined not to be dateless for the dance.

"I was thinking," Pansy simpered after Potions one day, "that maybe we could go together. I mean, I've always liked you. So it only seems natural."

"Don't you think if I liked you back I would have asked you out sooner? Of course I knew you liked me, everyone knows you like me, you make it quite clear. But really, I don't feel anything for you. And as for the dance, I'd rather go with just about anyone else."

"Like maybe that mudblood you nearly killed last year?" she hissed. "Everyone's been talking, Draco. You pretty much make a spectacle of yourself trying to talk to her. What's wrong with you? She's way out of our class."

"Our class?" he yelled. "If you're talking about blood status, then I guess you'd be right if I cared about that anymore. Otherwise she's no different than us. But you see, I've been realizing something for quite some time now. I don't want to follow the old ways anymore. And another thing," he added as he started walking away, "I think I will ask her. She far nicer than you and has interesting ideas to contribute to conversations. Not just petty gossip."

She screamed and stormed off in the opposite direction. She walked until she reached the tallest of Hogwarts's staircases, the one Kitreen had fallen from almost a year ago.

By accident, Kitreen herself was walking past. She had avoided the spot until now but she was so engrossed in her book that she had no idea where she was or who was waiting for her with an evil smile on her face.

"Well well, come back for more, have you?" Pansy cooed. "I didn't think I'd get the chance to release my anger so quickly, but it must be fate that you showed up here. Fate and your moronic self."

A crowd of students had gathered around them. The Slytheren's looked excited. Those that had missed the event last year were now thinking that there would be a repeat spectacle. Others looked on with worry, fearing that they would be targeted next if they tried to help.

Kitreen looked up from her book, astounded to find herself amongst people. She instantly focused on the source of the trouble, Pansy jeering at her, and shut her book.

"What do you want?" she asked. "I haven't been bothering you, all I wanted was to get to my common room so that I could finish reading."

"You've done everything to bother me," Pansy retorted. "Just by being here, by being alive, you bother me. But you didn't stop there. You thought you would just break all the boundaries didn't you? You thought you could make Draco like you. You thought you could change the natural order of things, but you can't. Like Draco would ever like a piece of blood-trash like yourself, when he could have a pureblood like me."

"If he liked you," Kitreen replied, "he probably would have asked you out, right? But he hasn't, and that's not my fault. I didn't try to get him to like me, if it happened, it was on accident."

"You know what I think?" she sneered. "I think you scared Draco into liking you. You did something to him, blackmail or something, and now he has to like you. But I think you'll find I'm not as easy to intimidate, and frankly, I don't care if you die!"

She pushed Kitreen, who was once again standing at the top of the stairs, and once again she teetered. All she could do was close her eyes and prepare for another painful fall as she clawed the air once again.

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry it's taken so long to get this fourth chapter up. There were a mixture of problems including heavy class loads, a broken computer, and a period of several months where the notebook I had written this in was lost. But I found it and now I'll be updating more and with shorter intervals. Thanks for sticking with me!


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